Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Treasure and a really old DNA sample

I have an antique cedar chest that houses a lot of random old things... You know, the stuff you want to keep but never really need or use.
It has a few of my baby clothes, baby books, a boomerang from Australia ( that I was only allowed to play with once due to the broken finger my mother got when she tried to catch it), some things from when we lived in other countries, some very random sports pictures Mikes insists on saving, and my mother's jewelry box, among other things...

My kids have seen all of this stuff before but since I rarely take the stuff off of the top of the cedar chest to delve into in, they act like it is finding buried treasure when I do. Last week I was searching for something and opened up the chest of treasure.

I look over and Kellie has Mother's jewelry box open, questioning every item in it. Any jewelry worth wearing has long since been taken out. What is left is the same things I remember from when I snooped in it as a girl.

Yellowed, old obituaries are there - my aunt and my grandfather I believe. A coin purse my mom had that has coins and bills from when we lived in Iran, a few random clip on earrings with no mate, a broken baby spoon with a hand carved ivory handle.

And, the strangest of all the contents. Two big curls of hair from my dad's first hair cut.

This plain, black jewelry box was always an interesting place to me...And now to Kellie

Did I mention the biggest find - the gold chain to hold your glasses on?

She enjoyed going over every item with me piece by piece. Oh, except for the curls. That creeped her out.

What exactly do you do with you dad's curls from his first hair cut? I hate to throw them away after all these years but I'm pretty sure I don't need them.

I think those curls must be the family quirk that caused my mother to think she must also save hair from my first major haircut - I have a ponytail wrapped in tin foil in a box somewhere that my mom saved from when I was about 5.

And now because of that I also have two ponytails in zip lock baggies from my girls getting rid of their ponytail for the first time...

Are my grandkids going to be going through that jewelry box one day wondering who's curls those are and why there are three ponytails? Maybe Kellie will also explain why we still can't play with the boomerang...